The Branding Process Continues, or, How to Grow Your Business

Well, it has been a very productive time for me--I feel like I am growing in all directions. Michelle (see post, 2/13/09) has been an incredible teacher and guide for me, almost a therapist for my business with whom I have been sharing all my thoughts and ideas about my business, how it fits into my life, where I want to go, how I imagine I fit into the "marketplace" etc etc, all of which she validates, and then expands upon in the most breath-taking way! We are deep into the logo-design process, which is incredibly fun, as we look at and tweak images of goats and bees [see first draft of logo design, with inspiration Luke and Leah, left], modify and refine the new mold designs, and as I am dispatched out into the field (read: Whole Foods) to do retail research. Let me just take a minute here to thank Mary and Robin, at Santa Fe Whole Foods, for spending their valuable time to answer all my inane questions on how things sell, what works on their shelves and why, and what their customers and they themselves like. So eye-opening! Turns out, once you start looking, you realize that what seems like a perfectly good idea in a shelf display (say a beautiful, handmade, custom wooden display that shows your entire soap product line), is actually a bust in terms of the space it takes up, the maintenance required by the store staff to keep it looking beautiful, and the amount of product that store is then required to keep stocked. So fun to ask Robin questions about what works for HER, as the buyer/stocker, and see her light up with the thrill of finally being asked for HER opinion! Yay!

Another key process that I am in the middle of, is refining my vision and mission for my business. Right now it is in very rough form, but I thought I would share it with you all, and see if there is any feedback. What Michelle has taught me is that socially conscious/green businesses lead with their mission, which other corporations and businesses (like Kmart. . . what's their mission again?) don't. This mission/vision becomes the guiding principle of the business, helping it (me) to discern how to grow, who to partner with, etc. So, here are some of the rough (ROUGH!) notes that I've put down:

Why am I in this business?

Love and respect for the animals.
Love of the nurturing, maternal qualities of milk and milking.
Love of the rhythms of maternity, animals, and the cycles of the natural world.
A connection to the women’s work of our ancestors.

Engaging, challenging and encouraging my entrepreneurial ability

Making a living based on my values—
This business allows me to live within a humane rhythm:
to be present to my children, actively raising them;
to pursue my many passions and interests;
to deepen my connections with my community and relationships with friends.

To fulfill the potential of progressive, “cradle-to-cradle”-based business and to be a leader and innovator in that field;

to encourage others, by example, to follow their passions and deepen their connections with others, and insist on living in a “humane rhythm” that allows for that;

to experience a satisfying and enriching exchange with people locally and globally through the medium of my products;

to bring to my customers a product that nurtures, heals, pampers, inspires and pleases/delights them;

a product that carries with it not only it’s immediate physical satisfaction, but also connects myself and my customers through my story, a certain way of life, and certain values that remind us of our shared humanity and bring us back to what is important in life. This connection takes place not just in the purchasing of products from me, but in the giving and exchanging of my products between my customers and the friends and loved ones for whom they buy my products.

to experience a satisfying and enriching exchange with people locally and globally by creating and selling a product that nurtures, heals, pampers, inspires and pleases the people who receive my products.

Relationship-based business.

Sensuality—connection with sensuality, privacy, love, romance, pampering, luxury, physical pleasure, cherishing of the self.

Thanks for reading. . .

More Beautiful Customers

Couldn't fit these all in the other post. . .

My Beautiful Customers

They speak for themselves (from this past Saturday's market) . . .

Valentine's Day at the Goat Farm

Yes, even the girls need a little romance once in a while. The beautiful male specimen you’re looking at in these photos is “LEGEND”, on loan from Camino de Paz farm, and is a papered Nubian buck from a line of prize-winning goats. Or something like that. So ugly, he’s pretty. Nothing like encountering pure male animal to make you appreciate, well men, but also the delicate femininity of the does. You can almost smell him in these pictures!

Though he is all male, and loves to get his way, don’t be deceived; he is very gentle and just wants to get along and get some attention. When he came to me, his hooves were extremely overgrown (sorry, Greg), and so I undertook to trim them, wondering if I would end up with a broken wrist and smelling like buck for days. Gave him a little grain, buckled him into the milking stand as best I could (a neck like a linebacker!), and lo and behold, he was gentle as a lamb as I trimmed his poor feet.

In five months, at the height of the summer (no hypothermia for the babies), we will have a crop of cute little kids running around—probably tripling the size of my herd, if the girls all have twins. Yikes! It will be sweet, overwhelming, fun and too much work. Can’t wait!

Let the Branding Begin

Dearest friends--what a hectic winter! I lost my digital camera. . .but just got a new one from my dad, so will be regaling you all with farm pics again soon.

First of all, I want folks to know that this is the first season I have continued to sell at the winter Farmers Market--and now that we are in our gorgeous building, and the Railrunner comes right into the Market, it is a very happening Saturday morning winter event. Come see me and the other hearty, creative vendors every Saturday from 9am to 1pm.

Second of all, last summer I worked on a business plan, then this fall received a business loan from Accion New Mexico, and as of this week, I am very excited to say that I will be working with local Michelle Moser, of Grace Communications, to update the "branding" of my business, which will include a new logo, a new line of custom soap mold designs, and new packaging that will ready my product to go out to stores, boutiques, spas, and knitting shops nation-wide!

I am very excited to work with Michelle, as she is not merely a graphic designer, but a marketer that has specialized in green businesses for over a decade. You can visit her website at gracecom.ws. Her principles are already grounded in the revolutionary ideas of such design leaders as William McDonough ("Cradle to Cradle"--see blog post, March 19, 2008). Check this out (from Michelle's website):

"We believe at its core, marketing is People-Centered, not market-driven. Our philosophy flows from the idea that employees are the source of your company's inspiration, and customers the source of infinite possibilities. By linking people--inside and out-- you inspire deeply authentic brand design and advertising language, that communicates who you are, what you do, and what you stand for. . .creating sustainable business communities with customers shopping for integrity."

Wow, what a good partnership for my business! Too good to be true! Stay tuned for more updates on my "branding journey"!

Fall is in full swing at the Farmers Market. My daughter Roan is displaying that emblem of fall harvest: a pumpkin. As a family, we are anticipating Halloween, ordering wood for winter, and inviting a handsome buck to come and visit the "girls." We are also in transition, with our house for sale, thinking about moving into town (and yes, the goats will come with), and planning for a new future, while honoring our past 13 years here in Glorieta.

My new business plans are coming along great! Soon, customers will be able to buy my custom-soaps with sweet and pleasing designs including a heart with baby goats, a sunflower & bee, a new kind of cat soap, and more. Can't wait to share these with my loyal customers and new friends!

Happy Fall, all, and Happy Harvest!

My Goat Had Her Portrait Painted!

Painter Miranda Gray came out to my little farm earlier this summer and took some photos for her lovely Farm Project--and made a gorgeous portrait of my goat Sula! Here is an excerpt of a recent article about this project, from Edible Santa Fe:

"One of the tenants of permaculture is that everything is connected. Six years ago, Miranda Gray moved with her husband into a small adobe house in the middle of an aging orchard in the Pojoaque Valley. She knew nothing of permaculture, or fruit trees, and only had an inkling of an idea about what her art making was going to be like in her new home. This chapter in her life started with the need to find a painting medium that was free of toxic fumes and plastics, safe to use in her small living room/studio. She also needed some way to figure out what to do with all those trees. Through the trees she found local teachers and community. Through her painting constraints, she discovered the relatively obscure technique of egg tempera, which is one of the oldest painting mediums there is. It uses ground, powdered pigments mixed with water and the yolk of chicken eggs.

"But egg tempera is somewhat persnickety. Commercial eggs fall apart when one tries to separate out the yolk from the egg. This led Miranda to the Santa Fe Farmer’s Market where the eggs she found made her very happy. The yolks were bright in color and stood up to being handled. For a while, as she learned her new craft, she painted portraits of things and people she loved. She painted her dogs, her childhood toys, and her friends. But she was running out of toys to paint. And who would want to buy portraits of dogs they didn’t know? She’d painted a couple of paintings about the bee crisis, but she didn’t feel that she could sustain the idea to a third painting. One evening last Autumn, while she was reading through the Fall issue of this magazine, she came across a beautiful photograph of two young farmers, brothers Kosma and Teague, with their hands dirtied holding huge arm loads of just picked carrots. She said, 'I had an epiphany looking at that picture. I could see a series of paintings that could go on and on for years. I had to paint the farmers! I found something that I loved, that I could paint about. And I found a topic that I believe in, local farming and sustainability. I found a way to blend my art and my politics. I was so excited that I could hardly sleep that night, thinking about all the possibilities, all the connections.'

"The first painting Miranda did was of another neighbor of hers, Natasya Gundersen of Mr.G’s Organic Farm. She road her bicycle down the road and found Gary and Natasya in their field picking white turnips for the market the next day. The morning light was exquisite, and Natasya’s hands were beautiful, with the requisite dirt that Miranda was looking for. From there Miranda went on to photograph Stanley Crawford on his garlic farm in Dixon, on the morning of his first garlic harvest. She helped bring in the harvest, which thrilled her to no end. She visited Daven Lee and her "girls,” goats who supply her with the milk she makes her soap from. She spent one morning tromping around Pollo Real with Tom Delehanty, while he showed her his operation, and talked with her of sustainability. He pointed out plants in his field that in her yard, had seemed like weeds, but now she knew to be nitrogen fixers and chicken food. Not only was she finding subject matter for her work, but also she was seeing first hand where her food was coming from. She was learning from the farmers, hearing their stories, and loving even more her own work.

"Miranda says that she still feels the voyeur. She is not the farmer, like Phil, who stood on his portal this spring and watched while a ten-minute hailstorm ruined his lettuce crop. She doesn’t have to get up before dawn, and put the sleepy kids in the car to drive two hours to market like Tom and Tracy do each week. She is hoping that her paintings will work as prayers for these farmers; that through the hours she sits painting, thinking of them and the good they bring, that somehow she can work a bit of magic into this amazing life, as these farmers do.

Miranda Gray’s paintings may be viewed at Selby Fleetwood Gallery, 600 Canyon Road, Santa Fe. 505-992-8877. Her show opens on Friday October 3rd from 5:00 to 7:30,and Saturday October 4th from 1:00 to 5:00. This time on Saturday was chosen so that the farmers may attend the opening after their Saturday market.